Spiced Toffee Pretzel Bark

I am really trying to get in the spirit, y’all. As I type this I am blasting my favorite Christmas merengues, trying and failing to achieve max Christmas Spirit status.

This is a weird year. It is the year of weaponized outrage, a year devoid of critical thinking, and massive tribalism. I keep combing over 1960’s documentaries for… I dunno… Something – Anything to confirm this is just history repeating and at some point this fever will break.
But no. I think collectively we were much more woke then. It was easier to form a movement. It was simpler to galvanize people and push them towards sustainable change; even when we had institutions working towards destroying these movements and criminalizing the leaders behind them.
What happened to us? I mean, don’t get me wrong. There are people doing such amazing work on the ground and I commend and support every single one. It’s just… It’s so easy now for people to let go of their values. It’s easier to dismiss another group even though we’re fighting for the same things. It’s just wild to me. We were so fired up in the 60’s. We had ideals. We crossed over and embraced anyone who was willing to further our causes. Now people are more interested in becoming Instagram famous instead of using their massive platforms to propel change.

I totally went off, didn’t I?
OK. Well… Above is last year’s Christmas décor.
It was the year of Christmas AF in my house. Every corner had a little Christmas somethin’ somethin’. It really helped, as we were clueless as to what we would be facing come January of 2017. I went out of my way to make my family feel good and sadly this year I don’t feel the same. I’m working on it, though. Just having a bunch of human moments.
Now flow with me, and let’s talk about this Toffee bark. I love making toffee. Real talk? I make buttery toffee for the hell of it, break it into pieces and munch on it. Here I combined two of my favorites: A lightly spiced toffee with salty pretzels. The toffee is ready in about five minutes. You fold mini pretzels into the hot toffee, allow it to cool, break into pieces.
Super simple and tasty. You can snack on this bark under a blanket while watching a Christmas movie.
It’s time to get in the spirit.

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

To a medium saucepan, add the sugar, butter, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, and vanilla extract over medium/ low heat, stirring occasionally to incorporate ingredients and ensure you don’t end up with a greasy mess. Insert a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to 285° Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. The mixture should be a nice, amber color.

Remove the pan from heat and working very quickly pour the pretzels into the toffee and stir to incorporate. Pour the mixture over the parchment lined baking sheet and flatten as best you can. Allow to cool completely and break into pieces. Drizzle melted chocolate, if desired.